August 19, 2020

The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let’s seek this ancient way together as a church!

Moses sets before the people two options for them to choose from: remembering and forgetting. He calls them to remember the Lord, to recall all that He has done for them, how He has shown them faithfulness through the wilderness years and has delivered them time and time again, how He has blessed them and fought for them and is giving them a fertile land full of good things. He warns them not to forget Him and all that He has so graciously done on their behalf.

Why does Moses need to warn the people this way? He warns them in this manner because it is the proclivity of every sinful, broken, human heart to diminish God and exalt themselves. Each and every one of us is more naturally inclined to our want our will to be done and our kingdom to work than we are to humbly submit to God’s will and seek His Kingdom. We are all prone to take credit for what God has done instead of giving Him the glory He deserves. 

This is why Moses warns the people so strictly to “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth’” (v.17). As God’s chosen, we have to be people who remember that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Everything that we have, we have as a result of His sheer grace and unmerited blessing on our life; He gives us these things not because of anything that we have or do, but simply because He loves us and chooses to shower His grace on our lives!

As you go throughout your day today, be reminded of all the good things that God has blessed you with. Remember Him and give Him all the glory!

Deuteronomy 8

Remember the Lord Your God

8 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Family Discussion Question:

  • What are some ways that it is tempting for you to think that you deserve what you have? How does the truth of God’s Word, the truth of the gospel, fly in the face of that thought?

17 thoughts on “Daily Devotional-August 19”

      1. AMEN and HALLELUJAh!!! Dear Lord our country is in trouble. There is a lot of hatred and racism. We as a country have fallen to the devil. Our country needs you Lord. We have fallen from your grace. Our country has forgotten you. Please help us to be what this country has forgotten and was raised on our Lord and Savior. I ask this in Jesus name Amen ?????

  2. Dear Heavenly Father,
    I am of the firm belief that every good and perfect gift comes from You. Without You, we would have nothing, be nothing and would have no hope and a future. Thank You for all of our many blessings which are too numerous to count. Lead us in righteousness and deliver us from all of the evil that surrounds us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

  3. Thank You Lord for this reminder. I find myself tumbling through this occasionally. Thanks to the time you have spent maturing me it seems less and less now, but I definitely cling to this lesson. I pray that I turn to you quickly when I either give myself the glory or find myself staring at the storm.

    You have thought of everything. I love you very much. Amen❤?

  4. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16: 34

  5. Lord I give thanks to You and for all that You have given me. Thank you for Your grace and mercy each day. Thank you for good health. Come Lord Jesus come. Amen

  8. Lord Jesus thank you for providing for me throughout my life. As David asked, so do I “Who am I that You have brought me thus far?” Help me to remember that all I am and have, You provided for me.

  9. Lord I thank you every day for what you have give us and that I am one the is content and does that want what others have because I know you provide every day just what we need.

  10. Heavenly Father, thank You for your Grace and Mercy! As we go throughout our day today, let us remember all the good things that You have Blessed us with! ?

  13. To experience God’s blessings, God expected the Israelites to follow His commandments, pass them on to their children, force out the enemies from the surrounding nations, and Fear the Lord. These apply to believers today and the long-term rewards of obeying God are greater than anything the world had to offer.

  15. Lord, help me not get distracted, forget and disobey you, suffering the consequences of going my own way. Help me to focus on you, obey you and be content with the way you have planned for me to go. Help me enjoy the days of plenty, but also have joy, contentment and praise you in those moments of scarcity.

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